
Europol-led global operation takes down pro-Russian cybercrime network
Code-named Eastwood, the operation targeted the so-called NoName057(16) group, which was identified last month by Dutch authorities as being behind a series of denial-of-service attacks on several municipalities and organisations linked to a Nato summit in the Netherlands.
Europol said that the cybercrime network was also involved in attacks in Sweden, Germany and Switzerland.
The police agency said the international operation 'led to the disruption of an attack-infrastructure consisting of over one hundred computer systems worldwide, while a major part of the group's central server infrastructure was taken offline'.
Law enforcement and judicial authorities from France, Finland, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and the United States took simultaneous actions against offenders and infrastructure belonging to the pro-Russian cybercrime network, it said.
Western officials have accused Russia and its proxies of staging dozens of attacks, sabotage attempts and other incidents across Europe since the invasion of Ukraine, including cyberattacks.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Cyberattack on Hongkong Post exposes address book data of over 60,000 EC-Ship users
At least 60,000 users have had their address book information compromised following a cyberattack on Hongkong Post's online mailing portal, the postmaster has said, adding that it is seeking advice to further enhance its system's security. Postmaster General Leonia Tai Shuk-yee could not confirm on Wednesday the exact number of individuals affected by the incident, revealing only that a hacker had accessed the address book data of 60,000 to 70,000 users of Hongkong Post's EC-Ship platform during a cyberattack that occurred from Sunday night to Monday. EC-Ship, a digital system operated by the government-owned postal service provider, allows individuals and businesses to prepare and pay for local and international mail services. Users can enter recipients' personal information into an online address book and use the system to handle bulk mailings and track shipments. Tai said the hacker had registered an EC-Ship account and used it to attack the system, adding that a vulnerability in the programming code led to some data being compromised. 'The system immediately suspended the account's operation and blocked the attack. But the hacker launched multiple attacks using different methods and discovered a vulnerability in the system's programming code,' Tai said on a radio show. '[The hacker] is a real and valid user who used this identity to attack us, but we were able to mount a defence. Our system effectively detected some suspicious activity and initiated defences. But the attacker continued to use different methods while we were defending, resulting in address book data of other [EC-Ship] accounts being compromised.' The postmaster said the compromised data included the names of senders and recipients, as well as company names, addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers and email addresses.


South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Inside the ‘world's biggest' factory making Russian kamikaze drones to attack Ukraine
A Russian factory, described by its director as the world's biggest maker of strike drones, has been shown on the Russian army's TV channel with teenagers helping make kamikaze drones to attack Ukraine. The footage, in a documentary film broadcast by the Zvezda channel on Sunday, showed hundreds of large black completed Geran-2 suicide drones in rows inside the secretive facility, which has been targeted by Ukrainian long-range drones. Ukraine says Russia has used the Geran drones to terrorise and kill civilians in locations including the capital Kyiv, where residents often shelter in metro stations during attacks. Russia says its drone and missile strikes target only military or military-related targets and denies deliberately targeting civilians, more than 13,000 of whom have been killed in Ukraine since the war began in 2022, the United Nations says. A Russian drone attacks a building in Kyiv, Ukraine. File photo: AP Zvezda said the Alabuga factory, in Russia's Tatarstan region, invited school pupils to study at a college the factory runs nearby once they had completed ninth grade (aged 14-15) so that they could study drone manufacturing there and then work at the factory when they had finished college. Young workers, including teenagers, were shown with their faces blurred out, studying computer screens or making and testing individual components, or assembling drones.


South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Hongkong Post online portal hacked, potentially exposing personal data of users
An investigation has been launched after the Hongkong Post's online mailing portal was hacked, potentially compromising the personal information of account holders. The government-owned postal service provider identified the cyberattack that involved robotic access late on Monday, saying address book details of EC-Ship account holders, including names of senders and recipients, phone numbers, fax numbers, and email addresses, were possibly exposed. EC-Ship is a digital platform for people and businesses to prepare and pay for local and international mail services, print shipping labels, manage address books, track shipments and handle bulk mailings. The Hongkong Post said it immediately blocked the unauthorised access and that police were investigating the cyberattack and the exact number of affected accounts and the extent of any personal data leakage were still being determined. 'Upon identification of the incident, Hongkong Post has taken immediate measures to block unauthorised access,' it said. It added that the case had been reported to police, the Digital Policy Office, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data and the Security Bureau.